habituate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to accustom (a person, the mind, etc.), as to a particular situation.
Wealth habituated him to luxury.
- Synonyms:
- train, acclimate, familiarize
-
Archaic. to frequent.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to accustom; make used (to)
-
archaic to frequent
Other Word Forms
- unhabituated adjective
Etymology
Origin of habituate
1520–30; < Late Latin habituātus conditioned, constituted, (past participle of habituāre ), equivalent to habitu ( s ) habit 1 + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then there are habits: we can habituate ourselves to speed - so fast can feel slow, and vice versa, depending on what you're used to.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
"Animals tend to habituate to these unnatural cues and so deterrent effects are only temporary," he said.
From Science Daily • Feb. 2, 2024
Other sloths that will return to the wild receive numbers instead of names because the Rodriguezes do not want them to habituate to people.
From Reuters • Aug. 4, 2021
Mothers should habituate their children to strict schedules, let them cry themselves to sleep and avoid too much love and attention.
From Salon • Sep. 8, 2019
To illustrate the necessity for deliberation, and to habituate men to battle conditions, small and comparatively indistinct targets are designated.
From Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army of the United States 1917 to be also used by Engineer Companies (Mounted) for Cavalry Instruction and Training by Department, U. S. War
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
